“I think initially there was a lot of concern,” said UMaine Student Government President Owen McCarthy. “But now, after seven or eight weeks with no imminent danger, I think people might be disregarding it.”

University officials have adapted their plans because of student apathy.

“We have some efforts just now getting underway, [which] communicate with the community the importance of getting a vaccine,” said Joe Carr, director of university relations. “We’ll also be using e-mail and new posters you’ll see on campus.”

Carr stressed the negative impact a case of H1N1 can have on a student’s life.

“A case of H1N1 can cause a serious disruption in a student’s life, and the vaccine can really go a long way toward preventing that. Students will be able to continue their lives on schedule without disruption,” Carr said.

Richard Young, director of Cutler Health Center, emphasized the importance the vaccine plays in the community.

“The data suggests that if one chooses not to be vaccinated, they have an increased potential to propagate the virus throughout the community. The history of pandemic influenza illustrates that vaccination is an effective approach to minimizing the spreading of the virus through a community and or population,” Young said. “Vaccinations diminish the transmission of the influenza virus and improve the health and safety of our entire local and regional community.”

McCarthy said he signed up to receive the vaccination at the free Nov. 9-10 clinics. Those dates have since been changed to Nov. 5 and 6.

“I’ve definitely been washing my hands and using Purell from time to time. I’m just kind of sitting back at this point and living my life as usual. I’m not super concerned,” he said. “I don’t think people should live in fear because of H1N1.”

Currently, university officials are preparing for all situations.

“The university is communicating closely with the Maine Center for Disease Control on the status of vaccine for the state and university. With initiates of this magnitude involving the coordination of many organizations, there is always a chance for challenges and vaccine delivery delays,” Young said. “If the situation presents a vaccine distribution delay, the Emergency Operations Committee will implement one of the alternative plans. The trigger for these alternative plans are based on the date and volume of vaccine available at any given time.”

“It is pointless to make plans now,” Carr said of the necessary change should the vaccine shortage delay the November clinic. “It would be useless.”

Despite the general apathy of students and vaccine concerns, McCarthy remains hopeful.

“We get debriefed about it every week,” McCarthy said. “Usually it’s just, ‘This week was good,’ since so far we haven’t seen anything big. We’re doing alright.”

Bowdoin has identified 167 students with flu-like symptoms since the start of school as of Sept. 28, according to Scott Hood, Bowdoin’s vice president for communication and public affairs. Maine’s Department of Health verified eight cases of swine flue on Bowdoin’s campus on Sept. 8, and the department suspended testing once it had confirmed H1N1 was present on the campus.

The University of Maine has identified 15 people with flu-like illness since the beginning of the school year, said Director of University Relations Joe Carr. None of the cases have been confirmed as H1N1. Carr said the number includes seven students who live on campus, six employees who work on campus, one student who lives off campus and one employee at a remote location. Carr said most have recovered and returned to school or work.

Bowdoin has attempted to contain the spread of swine flu by encouraging students to go home if they get sick, placing students in single dorm rooms and containing sick students in a single dormitory. Hood said 13 students are currently recovering at home, nine students have been placed in singles and three students are in an isolated area of a residence hall. Students must be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to class without using any medicines to reduce fever.

Bowdoin does not send students home; those who have left school lived relatively close to campus and did so voluntarily.

Hood said students generally recover in “two to three days. They come in, they’re sick for a couple days and then they’re OK and they’re back. So they’re not staying in isolation very long.”

Bowdoin students in isolation are brought meals by food services and visited by health services to keep them from leaving their rooms.

Vaccinations against the seasonal flu are currently available on campus, Carr said, and the university will set up a vaccination clinic for swine flu. Vaccinations against swine flu will tentatively be given Nov. 9 and 10, though Carr cautioned those dates may changes. UMaine does not yet know how many doses of vaccine it will receive. Wayne Maines, director of safety and environmental management, expects the university will receive about 600 doses.

Colby has had about two dozen students with flu-like symptoms, according to David Eaton, Colby’s director of communications. None of the cases have been confirmed as swine flu, and Colby has not quarantined students or sent them home, Eaton said.

The University of Southern Maine has had two or three cases of flu-like illness on campus, according to spokesperson Bob Caswell.

The Maine Center for Disease Control has identified 388 cases of swine flu in the state as of Sept. 24, which has resulted in 19 hospitalizations and one death.

Despite these precautions, some students don’t seem to be worried.

“I’m not really worried about swine flu. I think the media and officials have over-hyped the cause for concern,” said Elizabeth Gerard, a fourth-year international affairs student. “Thirty to forty thousand people die every year from the seasonal flu, but there isn’t constant coverage of that. I think I’m healthy enough to fight it so I try not to worry about it all.”

“I am not that concerned about it,” said Brett Harris, a fourth-year sociology student.

This nonchalant attitude is what the university is trying to fight. Wayne Maines, Director of Safety and Environmental Management, heads the team that will respond in case of an outbreak.

For now, the university has created an H1N1 Web site to provide information to the UMaine community. It suggests protecting yourself by covering coughs and sneezes with a sleeve or tissue; washing hands thoroughly and regularly; avoiding contact with eyes, nose or mouth and trying to avoid contact with sick people.

Although Gerard and Harris aren’t concerned with catching H1N1, they are taking precautions.

“I’m washing my hands like I normally do, but nothing crazier than usual,” Gerard said.

“Whenever I see a hand sanitizer dispenser, I use it,” Harris said.

Ben Sanford, a fourth-year history student, is taking the same action.

“I’m washing my hands more often and drinking more water then usual,” he said.

The university is asking students who are sick with flu symptoms — including fever, chills, sore throat, coughing, nausea or vomiting — to stay home until 24 hours after their symptoms fade. They are also asked to voluntarily report their symptoms to the H1N1 Web site so the university can be informed.

There have been 13 people who have reported symptoms — six on-campus students, five employees, one off-campus student and one employee at a remote location.

“We don’t know if any of them are H1N1, they are just reported symptoms,” said Joe Carr, director of university relations.

These kinds of cases are what really bring concern to students on campus.

“If someone I knew close to me came down with H1N1, I would probably take better precaution,” Gerard said.

Harris said he would be concerned “if people that I am in consistent contact with begin to contract it.”

High risk groups include people who are pregnant, and people who have asthma, cystic fibrosis or diabetes, but everyone in the UMaine community is still at risk. The university is encouraging concerned community members to contact their healthcare provider or Cutler Health Center if they feel they have flu symptoms.

Although the vaccine for the H1N1 virus has not been released yet, Cutler Health Center is now providing seasonal flu vaccinations for employees. H1N1 vaccines will be made available in November.

Some students feel H1N1 will come to UMaine anyway.

“I think it is inevitable that we [will] have an outbreak. Being in a colder climate, the normal flu spreads more easily,” Harris said. “I hope other students are taking similar [flu] precautions.”

“I think the swine will get to campus … but as long as people wash their hands regularly and stay healthy, I don’t think we should panic just yet,” Gerard said.

“If it broke out in Orono, I’m sure there would be a lot of people staying home,” Sanford said.

While five people have reported symptoms on campus, all have remained unconfirmed. According to UMaine planning assumptions, H1N1 is likely to come in waves, as the fast-moving virus spreads through the estimated 11,000 high-risk students.

Wayne Maines, director of the UMaine Department of Safety and Environmental Management, spoke to students this week to emphasize both what is being done to prevent a mass outbreak and what students can do to protect themselves. Most important for prevention is the H1N1 vaccine, of which 1,500 doses should be available to students in November.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke on Sept. 17 with college newspapers during a press conference about the risk the new flu poses to the college community.

“Disproportionately, the target population is young Americans under 25. So, college students are right at the front of the line in terms of being targets,” Sebelius said.

Beth Bell, associated director of science at the national center for immunization and respiratory disease at the Centers for Disease Control, said during the conference that this could be “partially because older people might have some immunity which protects them from this H1N1 virus.” As younger people have no built-in immunity to the strain, H1N1 has strayed from the norms of the seasonal flu, which usually affects those ages 65 and older. Sebelius believes this version of the virus is potentially more dangerous because it is hard to predict its reactions.

Sebelius said the vaccine — previously a two-shot process — can now be taken by college students as only one injection.  Following the injection, “a very robust immune response is arrived at … and that immune response hits in about 10 days,” she said.

Prevention, Maines emphasized, is simple, as H1N1 flu spreads in the same manner as seasonal flu. All students should thoroughly wash their hands often and take advantage of hand sanitizer, which has been placed around campus, because the virus can be active on hands for six to eight hours after exposure. When sneezing or coughing, do so into either a sleeve or a tissue, and keep fingers away from the mouth, nose and eyes through which germs can spread.

Most important is for students who are experiencing flu-like symptoms to employ self-isolation: refraining from attending classes or events and leaving campus if possible. Maines said it is important to remain isolated for at least 24 hours following the break of a fever.

“It’s important for them [college students] to understand whether they are in a high risk group … people who have lung diseases including asthma, diabetes, heart disease, pregnant women … and if they are in one of these high risk groups and they do get sick, to contact their doctor right away,” Bell said.

The Emergency Operation Center has been planning since April to preserve the safety of UMaine’s students and faculty. Already in place is a plan to distribute food to students who cannot leave their dorms due to illness as well as a Web site — www.umaine.com/h1n1 — and a phone line — 581-H1N1 — from which students can learn more.

The UMaine administration encourages all members of the UMaine community to receive the seasonal flu vaccine as well.

Two people are on-campus students who live in residence halls, one is an off-campus student, one is a staff member and one is an employee at one of UMaine’s remote locations.

“There’s no indication of any sort of a cluster of illnesses at this point,” Carr said.

Carr said none of the five have been asked to leave campus and that the university’s response to reported symptoms varies by person.

“The strategies are based on referring students and or faculty and staff members to the UMaine Web site,” Carr said. “In the case of an on-campus student … if that person is able to go somewhere else, for example to their home off-campus in a way where they won’t expose others to the virus we would encourage them to take advantage of that opportunity to recuperate elsewhere.”

The students reside in Cumberland and Balentine halls, Carr said.

Carr added that no cases of swine flu have been diagnosed on campus. The five people who have reported possible symptoms have not been tested.

“We should acknowledge the possibility that others in our community beyond these five have H1N1-like symptoms,” Carr said.

A Sept. 10 update from the Maine Centers for Disease Control said there have been 370 confirmed cases of swine flu in Maine, which have resulted in 19 hospitalizations and one death. Nationwide there have been 9,079 hospitalizations and 593 deaths due to swine flu, the report said.